


Operation Swoon

by parabuttai



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec is a good boyfriend, Established Relationship, M/M, basically just domestic fluff, side Clace, side sizzy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-02 02:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6546103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parabuttai/pseuds/parabuttai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus is always doing things for Alec and his friends so Alec wants to do something for him to show him he appreciates him.  With a little help from a 'borrowed' Cosmopolitan article he feels pretty confident he'll be able to show his boyfriend how much he cares.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There are several things about Magnus that never cease to amaze Alec.  The foremost of these is, of course, that someone as incredible and awe inspiring as Magnus would want to go out with someone like Alec in the first place.  However, he’s long since learned not to dwell on that detail thanks to several conversations with Izzy, and one painfully awkward conversation in which Simon had arrived unprompted into his sister’s room and hastened to join her in assuring Alec that he had nothing to feel insecure about with regards to his relationship.  Simon’s explanation had involved phrases such as “biceps worthy of Captain America” and “honestly, of all the Shadowhunters I know you definitely smell the tastiest!” And had ended with an elaborate metaphor in which Magnus was a man called Kirk and Alec was mean to be some guy called Spock and although it was well intentioned, and probably meant to be quite flattering if the approving way Izzy gazed at Simon throughout his earnest endorsement of Alec’s charms was anything to go by, Alec couldn’t escape the room quick enough. 

A conversation where Simon described his abs as “shimmering mounds with peaks sharp enough to grate cheese on” was not one Alec wanted to be part of, thank you very much. 

There are other things about Magnus that amaze Alec.  The way he manages to blaze the brightest no matter what company he keeps.  His eyes.  That he’s utterly and unrepentantly selfless when it comes to helping out Alec and his friends.  It’s the last one that’s led Alec to his current quandary.  Magnus spends so much of his time doing things for Alec, from opening portals and casting spells to heal him and his stupid friends every time they get injured in a way a simple iratze can’t fix, to buying him an honest to god coffee machine to use when he spends the night at Magnus’ apartment all because he knows Alec disapproves of him using magic to steal it from the coffee house around the corner.  Alec wants to do something nice for him for a change, but he doesn’t know what.  Doing things for Magnus is nigh on impossible as there’s little he can’t do with a wave of his magical fingers and the little that he does do like making him a cup of none stolen coffee first thing in the morning or allowing Magnus to use him as a test subject for his latest eyeshadow pallet are hardly chores, and don’t seem good enough for the kind of gesture Alec has in mind. 

Surprisingly, it’s Jace who comes up with the solution to Alec’s problem one day while the two are practicing sparring in the training room.  While Jace is a self-professed ladies’ man and has never had a problem talking to girls, he's hardly the epitome of romance and Alec hadn’t thought that he would be able to offer any real help when he confided his problem to him.  However, his parabatai pulls through.  With a smirk he walks over to the side of the room where he’d discarded his leather jacket at the start of their session and pulls a carefully folded piece of paper out of its pocket and offers it to Alec with a flourish worthy of a fae street performer.

“What’s this?” asks Alec, taking the paper and studying it carefully.  The question is completely redundant as it’s immediately clear from the brightly coloured words on the paper that he is holding a copy of Cosmopolitan’s “5 romantic gestures that will make your partner SWOON. (Guys, take note!)” 

“I took it from a magazine Clary left lying around in my room” says Jace. He looks inordinately pleased with himself as though he had just confessed to stealing an artefact from the City of Bones rather than ripping a page from one of his girlfriend’s trashy magazines.  “It was a spur of the moment thing.  But I’ve got to tell you man, those tips are golden.”

Alec studies the paper carefully and quirks an eyebrow at Jace.

“And you’ve been carrying this around with you this whole time?” he asks grinning and Jace elbows him in the side none too gently in a way that’s the Jace equivalent of a blush. 

“It’s called research” he says with an air of great dignity.  “I might be naturally more charming than ninety five, no.  Ninety eight percent of the population, but the last two percent is made up of dedication and hard work.”

“Is that what you’re calling it now?” smirks Alec, enjoying the easy banter that flows between them. 

“Do you want the page or not?” pouts Jace, wiggling his fingers meaningfully in the direction of the article in Alec’s hands.  Almost despite himself Alec takes a hasty step back and folds the article safely away in his own pocket.

“I think I’ll hang on to this,” he says.  “For research purposes.”

“Research purposes.”  Echoes Jace in a teasing manner and this time it’s Alec who elbows him in the side. 

“You’ve inspired me, man,” he says.  “Who knows, with this article’s help maybe I’ll become more charming than you.”

“Impossible” laughs Jace.  “You can’t improve on perfection.” 

The two are still gently bickering and elbowing each other when Clary comes in five minutes later to do some sparring practice of her own and is thoroughly unimpressed when they both refuse to tell her what has them laughing so hard. 

“You think I’m more charming than Alec, right?” Jace asks her, winking and smiling at her in a way that clearly shows he expects her answer to be yes.

“Right now I think you’re about as charming as a potato” she says and exchanges a brief smirk with Alec as Jace puts his hand to his forehead and swoons dramatically, muttering about betrayal.  “But,” she concedes after a moment “I guess you have been pretty charming lately.”

After that Jace and Clary begin to spar which swiftly starts turning into what Alec can only describe as a violent form of foreplay and he beats a hasty retreat from the room to his bedroom before he sees something he’ll wish he could unsee.  He has a quick shower, and once he’s dressed and still safely hidden away in his room he once again looks at the article Jace had given to him. 

His eyes look at the first item on the list:

  1. Clean up. Oh, fellas.  Doing the dishes – so simple, so meaningful, so sexy!



He surprises a snort.  He can already see why this list appealed to neat freak Jace.  However, the idea does hold some appeal.  Magnus’ apartment is hardly dirty, but it can get rather untidy when Magnus is particularly busy with his clients, or has thrown a particularly outrageous party and while the warlock does possess the ability to summon whatever item he’s looking for, he might appreciate a more orderly apartment. 

Picking up his phone he sends a text to Magnus.

**U home? x**

Almost immediately his phone pings in reply.

Nt rn – with a client. Be back around 10

Y?

U wanna have a sleepover 2nite?

;)

Alec snorts as he looks at the winky face emoji and quickly taps out a response.

**If that’s alright?**

**Id love to come tonight.**

Alexander? Was that an innuendo???!?!?

**;)**

I’m so proud!!! <3

With a grin Alec pockets his phone and makes his way out of his room and then out of the large front doors of the Institute.  If Magnus is out until 10pm then that will give Alec three hours to put his plan into action.

Cosmo in hand, he heads to Magnus’ apartment. 

Operation Swoon, here he comes.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you can probably tell, I haven't written fanfic in years. The last time I attempted it ff.net was the place to go and I'd never even heard of ao3.
> 
> I'm not the best writer, but practice makes perfect and Alec and Magnus are cute so I'm going to use them to try and improve. This fic will either be 2 chaps or 6 depending on how much time I spend on each step in Alec's list ;)
> 
> I've got a skeleton plan of the list, and the next scenes, but if there's any romantic gestures you'd like to see Alec attempt to perform hit me up in the comments or on my tumblr (also parabuttai) and let me know!
> 
> Hope you didn't cringe too badly while reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Alec arrives at Magnus’ apartment half an hour later.  He lets himself in using the key that Magnus had given to him the month before (and really, the fact that Magnus had so easily handed Alec a key to his home in the first place is yet more reason he deserves everything that Alec is planning on doing for him.)  There’s something comforting about the apartment, and not just because of its luxurious nature.  It’s just so very Magnus, with its eclectic collection of items no doubt collected from several different countries across a span of many, many year.  In the centre of the main room is a plush couch that Alec has spent several happy afternoons on, snuggled close to Magnus while he introduced him to the wonders of cable television.

The couch bares obvious signs of this frequent use.  It’s not dirty by any means, but there are several used wine glasses from when the pair of them had watched Mean Girls earlier that week.  Alec had pretended not to like the movie which had provoked a display of outrage from Magnus far more entertaining than any of the escapades the mundane girls had got up to in the half an hour or so of movie they’d made it through before they’d started making out instead.  The couch shows signs of that as Magnus’ magenta shirt is slung carefully over one of the arms, alongside the sweater that Alec had been wearing that evening and had forgotten to take home the next morning.  They’re both clean showing signs that Magnus had considered tidying the scene away before getting distracted by more important business and abandoning the clothing to its fate on the couch. 

Remembering the first item on the list “clean up. Oh, fellas.  Doing the dishes – so simple, so meaningful, so sexy” Alec gets to work.  He deals with the glasses quickly, giving them a scrub in Magnus’ kitchen sink that he’s pretty sure had never been used until he’d started spending time in the apartment.  He collects the take out containers that litter the surfaces in the kitchen, briefly considering whether he should rinse them too so they could be used for storage, before dumping in the bin.  He’s never seen Magnus cook before, and while he himself is nowhere near as bad as his sister who he’s once seen make an egg explode in the microwave he’s hardly at a level where he’s going to use them. 

The next two hours are spent in a whirlwind of activity as he tries his best to clean up the apartment.  He successfully manages to unearth some ancient cleaning supplies from one of the kitchen cupboards that smell faintly of sandalwood and look like they cost a small fortune.  There’s also a smaller bottle that causes Alec to cough and cover his eyes when he opens it due to the strong chemical smell of artificial lemons it exudes.  He hastily reattaches the cap and puts it to one side, intending to throw the offensive bottle away before Magnus gets back. 

There’s fifteen minutes left until Magnus is due to arrive home as Alec puts the finishing touches to his work.  He’s not done much in Magnus’ bedroom knowing that his boyfriend keeps his most valuable possessions in there and doesn’t like when they get moved.  But he has taken his sweater and Magnus’ shirt from the living room and put them away in Magnus’ drawers.  He’d hesitated about putting his own clothing away in Magnus’ room, feeling a sense of awkwardness about his own forwardness that he hadn’t experienced since the earlier days of their relationship. But there was something about the sight of his sweater nestled quietly next to Magnus’ own collection of vibrant sweaters and capes that had persuaded him it was the right move.  Five minutes left, he makes the bed, much to the displeasure of Chairman Meow who had been lounging on his back in the middle of the unmade bed and seems deeply displeased to have his rest disturbed, although he does allow Alec to gently pet him as he stalks into the main room, suggesting that he isn’t going to hold too big a grudge. 

With two minutes left until Magnus is due to return Alec returns to the main room and opens a bottle of Magnus’ favourite fairy wine that he likes to have a glass of after a hard day’s work and sets it on the counter to allow it to breathe. 

He’s rummaging in the cupboard for a wine glass when he hears it.  A light thud, and then the sound of gentle purring.  Even with the runes for foresight and speed he’s unable to prevent what happens next.  Chairman Meow has hopped up onto the counter next to the bottle of wine and is purring softly.  As Alec turns round the two make eye contact and then, almost in slow motion, Chairman Meow raises one paw, his eyes still locked on Alec’s, and shoves the open bottle of red wine off the counter.  Alec can only watch in horror as the entire bottle spills onto the floor, forming a three foot wide puddle across Magnus’ cream carpet and giving the otherwise pristine apartment the feel of a fresh murder scene. 

“Why would you do that?” he cries, looking at the cat who is still, purring gently from the kitchen counter.  The question is entirely rhetorical of course.  If Chairman could speak he knows the cat would smugly explain “because you woke me up.”  While Alec loves the cat and his owner deeply the two share a strong love of mischief that Alec has been on the receiving end more times than he can count.

His mind races to remember the best way to clean red wine when he hears the distinct sound of keys in the door and Magnus sweeps into the apartment.  He looks tired, but immediately brightens when he sees Alec and strides over to him to place a quick kiss on his lips. 

“What a delightful surprise to come home to find such a handsome man in my kitchen,” says Magnus, running his hand against Alec’s cheek and beaming at him.  “I didn’t expect you to be here waiting for me.  Let me tell you, your face is a far more welcome sight than the demon my client wanted to have a chat with this afternoon.  Ghastly little thing.  And such colourful language!” 

Alec tries to smile back as Magnus chats about his day but behind Magnus’ back, out of sight, the wine is still spreading. 

Chairman Meow is still purring. 

At the sound of Chairman’s purr Magnus turns around. “Ah, yes.  The other handsome man in my life.  Has Alec been taking good care of you, my darling?  Have you... Oh dear.”  Magnus’ voice trails off as he catches sight of the large stain that’s growing ever larger on his carpet.  For one second Alec is filled with a wild urge to throw his body over the stain and hide it from Magnus’ sight but it’s too late.  He raises his eyebrow at Alec and asks mildly “did you and my cat perform a summoning ritual of your own while I was out?  Perhaps one that involved a rather large and bloody sacrifice?”  From the tone of his voice Alec knows he’s teasing, especially as his eyes are sparkling in a way that suggests he actually finds the whole scene rather funny.  But he still feels terrible. 

“I opened one of those wines you like to let it breathe but Chairman took offense at my disturbing him and, well.”  Alec gestures broadly with one hand.  “You can see what happened.” 

“My big, strong Shadowhunter.” Grins Magnus, wrapping his arms around Alec’s waist and pulling him close.  “Defeated by a cat.”

“I’m sorry,” says Alec as his own arms wrap around Magnus’ shoulders.  “I’ll clean it up.”

“No need,” says Magnus.  He snaps his fingers at the stain and it disappears.  The now empty bottle reappearing on the counter.  “Although speaking of cleaning, it looks remarkably neat in here.  You have been busy Alexander.” He fixes Alec with a questioning gaze.

The need to squirm or shrug under the look Magnus gives him is strong, but Alec manages to look him directly in the eyes as he explains “you’re always helping out me and my friends.  I wanted to do something nice for you that you wouldn’t have time to do for yourself.”  He’s rewarded with a smile.  Not one of the friendly ones that Magnus puts on at the drop of the hat, not one of the ones that other people get to see.  This one’s more genuine.  It’s one that says Alec’s confession has made Magnus genuinely happy.   It’s one Alec hopes he’ll see again very soon.

“That was very thoughtful of you, Alexander.”  Magnus says softly.  “Thank you, my dear.”  He reaches up to cup Alec’s face and kisses him again, this time much more tenderly than he had when he first entered the apartment.  Alec closes his eyes and sighs softly, enjoying the feel of his boyfriend in his arms as his lips press against his.

“I believe you mentioned something about a sleepover earlier?”  He murmurs and Magnus raises an appreciative eyebrow at him.

“So I did,” he agrees.  “And I believe you, my dear, mentioned something about coming.”

For a moment they stand there, arms wrapped around each other as heat simmers between them but then a loud clang makes them break apart.

Chairman has moved further down the counter while they were distracted and knocked something else to the ground.  This time, it’s the bottle of kitchen cleaner that has almost asphyxiated Alec when he’d opened it earlier is pooling on the ground in a puddle of yellow slime that looks almost as synthetic as it smells.

“Oh, Chairman.”  Sighs Magnus, waving his hand to vanish the new mess.  “What have I told you about interrupting us when we’re having a moment?” 

The cat stares innocently back at the two of them and Alec coughs.  Although the kitchen cleaner is no longer around its pungent odour still lingers.  Magnus notices it too and clicks his fingers again but to no effect.  Chairman looks smug.  This time when Magnus waves his hands blue sparks fly from his fingertips and Alec can tell he’s put quite a bit of magic into the spell.   If anything, the smell seems to get even stronger so that it’s not just Alec who’s coughing, but Magnus too.

“The High Warlock of Brooklyn, defeated by kitchen cleaner,” laughs Alec as Magnus frowns disappointedly at his own hands.

“I don’t think I can make it vanish,” he admits through coughs.  “We’re going to have to air out my apartment the mundane way.  I tell you, in four hundred years I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything quite this foul.  Regretfully, I think we’re going to have to postpone our sleepover.” 

“How about a late dinner instead?” Alec quickly asks. He’s rewarded by another one of Magnus’ glorious smiles.

“I’d like that,” he says.  “Lead on, my dear.”

The two walk out of the apartment hand in hand, Magnus magicing the windows open in the hope the smell of lemons might fade.  Alec smooths one hand over the pocket where the Cosmo article is still stored.  The words “number two. Take them out – what better way to show them you care than a romantic meal for two” echo in his mind from when he’d memorised them earlier.

Hopefully this next step would go a little better than the first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You seem to be reading this and not hating it, so that's good.  
> There's actually some Magnus in this chapter, so yay! I think this is going to be 6 chapts + possibly an epilogue from Magnus' pov.


	3. Chapter 3

Estelle's is a small, hole-in-the-wall café that’s about a ten minute walk away from Magnus’ apartment.  The entire place can only seat twenty people at any given time and is painted a bright yellow colour that borders on garish but instead manages to give an air of tranquillity to the seating area, which is further complemented by the ever changing wall of original paintings by unknown artists that are hung on three of the walls for customers to purchase.  Importantly, it’s a mundane establishment, which means there’s little chance of Magnus or Alec being recognised or interrupted while they’re there – and it does the best sandwiches in the whole of Brooklyn. 

It’s not necessarily what the article meant by “take them out”.  Alec imagines he was meant to take Magnus to a fancy, five star, reserve a month in advance type place where there would be candles on the table and the staff would call them both “sir” and they’d have to wear tuxes. But they’ve been coming to Estelle’s for several months now and he knows that Magnus likes the Brie and Bacon Panini they serve here, and he doesn’t have a reservation anywhere else. 

They order their food from a bored looking teenage girl at the main counter and make their way over to a table at the side of the room.  As they sit down something on another table catches his eye and he swiftly leans over to grab it.

“What are you up to?” asks Magnus intrigued.  Alec opens his hand and places the small, melted candle in between them. 

“Could you light that?” He says, ignoring Magnus’ question. Magnus obliges, reaching into his pocket and pretending to pull out a lighter so that the few mundanes in the café won’t get suspicious at the candle suddenly lighting itself. No doubt Magnus thinks Alec just wanted a bit more light, but the candle adds an extra touch of romance to the setting, and Alec feels momentously proud of himself for spotting it.  A few other tables also have stumpy candles sitting on them, but they’ve all burned out so theirs is the only one alight in the room.

They eat their sandwiches in companionable silence, nudging each other with their feet every so often.  It’s unusual for Magnus to be so quiet, but his face is peaceful, and he smiles sweetly at Alec every time they make eye contact so Alec figures he’s okay. 

“Don’t look now, but I think you have an admirer” whispers Magnus conspiratorially, wiggling his eyebrows meaningfully in a direction a little to Alec’s left.  Alec turns to see what Magnus is looking at and his eyes fall on an old lady sitting by herself in a corner of the café.  She is indeed staring at Alec, a slightly wistful expression on her wrinkled face.  He turns back to Magnus.    

“Well, a little healthy competition will be good for you,” he states blandly, doing his best to keep his expression clear so he doesn’t laugh.  Magnus looks briefly taken aback before laughing heartily himself at Alec’s words.  The light from the candle on the table catches his face as he does so, giving him a golden glow that makes him seem otherworldly and iridescent in the homely café.

“For you, I’d fight off one hundred elderly women,” he proclaims, winking affectionately at Alec.  “Although between you and me, I look much better in a pashmina.” He looks so sincere while he makes the ridiculous declaration that Alec is filled with an overwhelming desire to kiss him, but since that would be impractical across the table he settles for reaching out to take Magnus’ hand with his.  Magnus’ hand is much smoother than his thanks to his vigorous moisturising routine and fit neatly inside his so that he just see the tips of his nails –painted strikingly with violet, ombre glitter- peeking out from between his own fingers. 

“You don’t need fight off any elderly women for me,” he mutters, feeling suddenly bashful although it was him that started the childish exchange.

“Of course, silly me,” laughs Magnus.  “It’s the dapper gentlemen of age against whom I’ll need to prove my worth.”

“I mean it,” says Alec.  “You’re the only one I want.”

“Are you calling me a gentleman of age?” asks Magnus archly, “because I’ll have you know I’m not a day over four hundred!” 

“No, I’m not, I” splutters Alec, suddenly horrified that he’s managed to put his foot so thoroughly in his mouth until Magnus cuts him off.

“Oh Alexander,” he says fondly.  His eyes are shining brightly in the light so that Alec can see the shadow of his true, irises shimmering within them.  “Never did I think that I’d fall so deeply for a Shadowhunter.  And a Lightwood at that.” This time Alec ignores the impracticalities and leans across the table to kiss him, putting his elbow in his near empty plate in the process so that it makes a loud clattering noise as it smashes into the top, covering his sleeve in mustard.  They ignore it, only breaking apart when a small cough interrupts them.

“Excuse me, dears.”  It’s the old woman who’d been looking at Alec from across the room.  “My name’s Enid.  I’m ever so sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to let you know I’m going to leave some money with the lovely young lady behind the counter to pay for you to have desert.”  Alec is taken aback by her statement and he can tell that Magnus is as well.

“That’s very kind of you,” Magnus says finally, “but there’s absolutely no need for you to go to that trouble.”  Enid shakes her head firmly, smiling at them both.

“I insist.  My Ethel would have so loved to see the two of you here, enjoying yourselves.”  As if to ward off any more protests she continues brightly “try the banoffee pie, it’s absolutely delicious.”

“Ethel?”  Repeats Alec dumbly and although Enid continues to smile, there’s something distinctly tired about her eyes as she says “Ethel was the love of my life.   She passed away last year.   We used to love coming to this café for dinner, but it’s not quite the same without her here.”

“But coming here keeps her close,” Magnus says knowingly.  When Alec looks at him he’s looking compassionately at Enid and there’s something ancient in his eyes.   Alec wonders what he’s thinking about, how many lost loves Magnus is seeing in his mind’s eye.  Whether he sees Alec, already lost to the seas of time while Magnus stands alone, untouched by the waves.

“Yes,” admits Enid, snapping Alec from his musings.  “She had such beautiful, blue eyes.” 

“Blue eyes have always been a favourite of mine,” says Magnus approvingly, squeezing Alec’s hand with his.  “She sounds like an incredible woman.” 

“She was.”  Enid is firm in her declaration.  She fixes them both with a beady eye.  “And she would have wanted you to get the pie.”

“With such stellar credentials, how could we not?” Magnus says agreeably.  The strange look is gone from his face, but he is still holding Alec’s hand tightly as he continues “we are very grateful for your kindness.”

“Thank you,” adds Alec.  Enid nods, seemingly convinced that the matter is closed and they’ll obey her commands and begins to shuffle to the counter, no doubt to pass on the same instructions to the bored looking teen lounging there. 

Alec feels lost for words.  The two don’t talk about it often, but at moments like this he can feel his own mortality like a tangible weight.  He thinks of Magnus, sitting alone in a café like Enid had been and swallows painfully. 

“Shall I fetch the pie then?” Magnus’ voice interrupts his thoughts, smooth and cheerful as ever.  He seems entirely untroubled when Alec looks at him and when he smiles, Alec can’t help but smile back at him.

“I hear it’s absolutely delicious,” he agrees, mimicking Enid’s earlier words.

It is.

They take it in turns to take spoonfuls of the desert.  Alec manages to get some of the cream on his nose and Magnus laughs as he reaches out to wipe it off with a finger.  Alec’s skin feels warm where he touched it and when Magnus raises the cream covered finger to his mouth and licks it clean he feels the warmth spread to his cheeks as he blushes furiously.

“That, was a wonderful dinner, Alexander.”  Magnus says when the pie is gone.  He stretches out like a cat, reaching his arms out so far behind his head that the magenta shirt he’s wearing rises up a few centimetres giving Alec a tantalising glimpse of the golden skin there.  “Thank you for taking me out.”

“You’re welcome,” smiles Alec.  “Really we should both be thanking Chairman.”

“Ah, yes.  My troublesome cat.”  Agrees Magnus.  “Somehow I can’t bring myself to feel too cross with him right now.”

“You won’t say that if you’re apartment still smells like lemons when we get back,” teases Alec.

“That,” says Magnus resolutely “is not what lemons smell like.  I’ve met demons who smell better than that infernal odour.”

“We could go for a walk if you want?”  Asks Alec.  “You know, to give the apartment a bit more time to air.”

It’s not the next step on the list, but he’s rewarded by a blinding smile from Magnus anyway.

“My, my.  You are full of wonderful ideas tonight, Alexander,” purrs Magnus appreciatively.  “An evening stroll sounds absolutely wonderful.  It does wonders for one’s digestion.”

*

Later when they’re both tucked away in bed together, Magnus’ head tucked neatly against Alec’s shoulder, Alec finds himself thinking of Enid again.  Yes, she had lost the woman she loved, but she clearly had many happy memories of Ethel, and that had to count for something.  He thinks of the wonderful evening he and Magnus had spent together and smiles sleepily.  Yes, he decides.  Happy memories are worth a lot. 

He holds Magnus a little closer that night anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all had lovely weekends, I did.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Alec wakes up at dawn just as the sun is beginning to creep into the room.  It’s only just gone five so he indulges himself and lies there for a few minutes more, enjoying the feeling of warmth slowly inching its way up his chest as the sun continues to rise.  His right arm has gone numb where Magnus is lying on top of it, curled close to Alec’s side like a cat and it’s not exactly comfortable, but there’s something nice about lying there next to his boyfriend… Even if said boyfriend is snoring loud enough to quiet any doubts Alec might have once had about his demonic origins, and crushing the life out of his arm to boot.

Finally when the sun reaches his face Alec can no longer ignore that it is in fact morning and gets up, carefully extricating his arm from underneath Magnus who gives the barest rumble of protest before rolling into the warm patch of bed which Alec has just vacated and snuggling into it.  Alec smiles fondly at the Warlock even as he tries to shake the tingling sensation out of his numb limb.  Magnus looks incredibly young as he lies there, spread out across the bed as though determined to lay claim to the whole of it.  When they had first started sleeping together it had been quite a challenge for Alec to find enough space on the bed to get any rest.  Magnus slept like someone who’d grown accustomed to sleeping alone for a long time, and despite the enormous size of the bed, any blankets, pillows or even mattress that Alec had settled down on had tended to disappear at some point in the night.  Magnus was always extremely abashed the next morning, and had promised over and over again to stop hogging the sheets quite so violently, but to no avail.  It wasn’t until he’d sleepily realised that he preferred having Alec as a living pillow, rather than all the other pillows on the bed that their nightly tussle for space had ended.  Now they both slept in the middle of the bed, limbs tightly wound together so that at least a foot of spare bed extended out either side of them.

This sometimes poses a problem for Alec as Magnus is a habitually late sleeper and Alec has always been an early riser so it can be a challenge for him to get up in the morning without waking his boyfriend. It’s a habit of his that has persevered since he was very young. There had been something so exciting about being the first one awake.  The academy was huge, and he had been so small that it had been easy to find a new nook or cranny to explore each morning without the interfering presence of an adult who always insisted on putting a swift half to his more adventurous pursuits. 

Then, when he was a little bigger, being the first one awake had given him time to guard his sister.  She’d been so vibrant, so Izzy, even in those first few days, that Alec had felt something shift inside him like a compass.  Only instead of always pointing north, his inner compass had always pointed to her. He’d crept into her room so often in that year that their parents had eventually given up and put a small bed in there for him to sleep on so he could watch over her in the night.  Her crying woke him at odd hours, but he’d felt such a burning desire to be near her, to protect that unrelenting, vibrant energy she’d exuded that he hadn’t cared.  He’d just learnt to live with less sleep. 

Now he gets up early in the morning for training.  When he stays at the institute he can get away with waking up a little later, but at Magnus’ he always has to get up around dawn to give himself time to get back.  He dresses swiftly, pulling on the same clothes from the night before, and heads out the bedroom, through the main living space and into the kitchen so he can make himself a quick cup of coffee before he goes.  Alec scratches Chairman Meow absentmindedly under the chin as he waits for the water to boil.  Chairman seems to have forgiven him for waking him up the other day as he purrs loudly at the ministrations and goes unashamedly floppy boned under his hands.

“Don’t be too loud now,” murmers Alec as he continues to stroke the cat.  “We don’t want to wake up Magnus.”

Talking to the cat is another morning habit of his.  However this one is not one that he’s had since childhood and one that he tries his best to keep secret from everyone so as to avoid the constant ribbing he just knows it would earn him.

(He suspects Magnus might find it endearing, but as Magnus is always asleep when he talks to Chairman he doesn’t need to worry about it.)

“What’s on the list for today, hmm?”  Alec asks Chairman.

Chairman gives him a look that very plainly states that he doesn’t know, doesn’t care, and would very much like Alec to go back to rubbing his chin.  Alec ignores his demands and pulls out the article which is still carefully folded in his back pocket. 

  1. Pack them a lunch for work one day and write their name on the bag in Sharpie. (Alternatively, put a little note on a napkin and put it in the bag.)



Glancing at his watch Alec realises he doesn’t have much time to put this plan into action.  He hurries around the kitchen under the amused eyes of Chairman and manages to put together a sandwich.  It looks a little sad on his own so he adds an apple and a bag of Cheetos to the pile, even managing to dig out a bottle of Coke from Magnus’ enormous fridge.  Finally, he places the whole ensemble in a brown paper bag on which he scrawls a quick message ending “I love you.  Alec xxx.”  It’s a little slapdash, but he hopes Magnus will appreciate it when he wakes up to go meet with his client later that day.

Alec is fifteen minutes late to training and is greeted with a disgruntled “you’re late” from Jace and a curious “why do you smell like lemons?” from Izzy.  He doesn’t care though and wards them both off with a succinct “none of your business.”  The thought of Magnus smiling as he reads Alec’s silly message is enough to give him the energy to deal with his siblings any day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I'm back at uni and have 100% less time for writing?
> 
> Thanks for all your comments and kudos!


	5. Chapter 5

Step four “Make them something!  A little bit of work can go a long way to showing that special someone you care.”  Is going to require help. 

Alec’s last foray into arts and crafts had involved a macaroni decorated photo frame that he’d made for Izzy’s seventh birthday.  She still has it, so clearly the sentiment, if not the craftsmanship had been appreciated.  This fact bolsters Alec’s mood about his upcoming project, although he can make something slightly more advanced that a slightly lumpy photo frame this time round. 

That’s where Clary comes in.  Alec knows that she’s pretty good at art from listening to Jace wax poetic about her skills.  He’s also seen her doodles on some of the reports she’s compiled so he knows it’s not just that Jace has been blinded by love but that she is reasonably talented.  He just helps that her ability to draw also translates into the kind of general creativity he’s looking for.  

But talking to Clary proves to be difficult.  Or rather, talking to Clary alone is what’s causing problems for Alec.  She arrives at the Institute for the second part of their morning training session and then immediately after that is whisked away by Jace to go over the current political situation between vampires and mermaids.  Then, Izzy declares she needs Clary’s help _urgently_ and the two girls spend the next few hours sequestered away in Izzy’s room until they both emerge at lunchtime with freshly curled hair and dramatic winged eyeliner that makes Alec suspect Izzy’s hadn’t wanted Clary for anything more serious than a fashion emergency. 

Now, Alec is lurking in a storage cupboard just off the main entrance to the Institute.  He needs to catch Clary before she heads home for the day, but standing by the door is too conspicuous in case someone decides to accompany her out.  From here he can see if she’s alone without drawing attention to himself and follow her out if need be.  This proves to be unnecessary as when Clary finally appears she is, for the first time that day, completely alone.

“I need to talk to you,” he hisses, sticking an arm out of the cupboard to catch her shoulder as she walks by.

Clary looks mildly suspicious at his outburst and Alec can’t entirely blame her.  They get along much better now, but most of their positive interactions are made up of shared moments of exasperation at Jace, so they can hardly be described as friends.  Plus, he is standing in the storage cupboard like a crazy person.

“Okay,” says Clary finally, casting a doubtful look at him. “But do I need to come into the cupboard with you?”  Alec doesn’t dignify that with an answer and hastily steps out of the cupboard and grabs Clary by the shoulder, steering her down the corridor and out the front door.  “So what’s this about?” asks Clary after they’ve walked in silence for a few moments.  Alec struggles to vocalise what he wants.

“You’re good with the, you know, art” he begins. 

“I am” she agrees, and to her credit while she still seems bewildered she graciously allows him to continue rather than mock him for his poorly constructed sentence.

“Iwanamaksumtifomagnus” he finally blurts out.

“You know this talking thing would go much better if you were actually talking,” she says rolling her eyes.  Alec takes a deep breath.

“I want to make something for Magnus.”  He says much more calmly this time.  “Will you help me?”

“You want to… make something… for Magnus?” Clary repeats back to him.  Although he’d spoken perfectly clearly this time around she still seems to be having trouble understanding him. 

“Yes.  I want to make him something.  A scrapbook, I think” Alec soldiers on.  Now the initial confession’s out of the way he finds it much easier to continue explaining what he wants.  “I have all these pictures on the two of us together, and some other things.  But I don’t know how to make a scrapbook.” 

“And that’s why you need my help” Clary finishes for him.  “Don’t worry, I know exactly what you need…” 

There’s a slightly manic glint in her eye at her declaration that makes Alec feel suddenly nervous.

Ten minutes later he decides he was right to be.

Clary has taken him to a mundane store called “Karla’ Krafts” that was half way between her house and the institute.   

“The ‘K’ it to show how quirky and artsy this place is”, Clary had explained to him as she’d dragged him inside and immediately led him over to some large display filled with ribbons and stickers and glitter and a whole assortment of other things that Alec had little to no experience with and told him to grab anything that caught his eye.  Now, Clary has a whole basket brimming with bits and bobs.  Alec has only a plain white album and a pot of golden glitter that reminds him of Magnus’ eyes.   The look Clary had given him as he’d picked it up was a bit too knowing for his liking but he’d still ended up purchasing the glitter along with most of Clary’s suggestions.    

Afterwards they go to Clary’s house and begin the scrapbooking process.  There was a tense moment when Clary had picked up a Cosmo magazine and Alec had been briefly convinced that she was going to pull his now rather crumpled article out of his pocket and cry “aha” but she had simply used some of the pages to cover her desk so that they wouldn’t get it covered in glitter. 

Alec, it turned out, was surprisingly good at scrapbooking. 

He carefully arranged each picture and memento in the plain album he’d purchased before going back through it and adding bits of ribbon and glitter to the pages to make the whole thing more Magnus.  Clary offered the occasional suggestion on colour but left him to it for the most part.  At one point she leaves the room entirely and comes back with two large mugs of coffee which Alec thanks her for profusely. 

Finally the scrapbook is finished and the two of them gaze at it admiringly.

“Magnus is going to love it” smiles Clary, placing her hand on Alec’s arm.  “Good job.”

“Thanks for your help.” Says Alec in return and smiles at her thinking perhaps, maybe, he had been a little hasty in thinking that the two of them weren’t friends.

That moment is swiftly ruined when she wiggles her eyebrows at him and says “he’s going to totally swoon.”  When Alec gapes at her, horrified she makes a low scoffing sound and says “what?  I recognise the fourth step from that article I left lying around for Jace to find.” 

Alec continues to stare at her.

“Anyway,” she continues, evidently deciding that Alec is no longer capable of continuing the conversation.  “You should go give that to Magnus.  I wasn’t kidding when I said he was going to love it.” 

Alec beats a hasty retreat from the house, thinking to himself that Jace’s girlfriend is much more cunning than anyone gives her credit for. 

He can’t bring himself to care too much though.  Magnus really is going to love the scrapbook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *chants* brotp. brotp. brotp.
> 
> I have no time to write at uni, sorry. Hope you enjoy this chapter! One more to go, and then only the epilogue left.


	6. Chapter 6

As it happens, Alec never gets to find out what Magnus would have thought of the scrapbook. 

Moments after he leaves Clary’s he feels his phone buzz in his pocket and when he pulls it out he sees Izzy’s details flash up on the screen.

“Where are you?” she snaps the second he picks up.  “You promised you’d come with me to check out the reports of demonic activity down by the park this evening.”   Alec had completely forgotten.

“Right, sorry.”  He changes direction abruptly, away from Magnus’ apartment. “I’m on my way.”  He doesn’t have much with him in the way of weapons.  Just his stele, and a small seraph blade.  If he’d been thinking clearly he’d have brought his bow and arrows with him but he’d gotten completely distracted with making the scrapbook and if he was going to meet Izzy in time to help he’d have to make do.  After all, the report was only very minor.  It probably wouldn’t be serious at all.

Except it was extremely serious.

When Alec had met up with Izzy ten minutes later the pair had hastily drawn on some fresh runes before walking stealthily into the park.  It was mostly deserted, but the steady pulse of red light emitting from Izzy’s necklace told the pair they weren’t entirely alone.  Sure enough, as they had rounded the corner on one of the nature trails that snaked through the grass Alec had heard a low hissing noise and the pair had whipped around to see not the lone demon that they’d been expecting, but a whole pack of Molox demons. 

“Halaliel,” cried Alec, naming the seraph blade he carried.  It glowed with a sudden ferocity as he swung it high through the air, catching the closest demon in the side of its head.  Thick, oily blood oozed from the wound as the demon let out an enraged shriek and attempted to claw at Alec with razor like talons.  Alec swung _Halaliel_ again, severing first the Molox demon’s hand, and then finally its head so that it fell down dead at last, before disappearing away back to the demon realm.  Another demon threw itself at him, then another, but he managed to kill them both.  Beside him Izzy was fighting so ferociously that her whip looked like a haze of silver smoke glittering through the air.  Disrupting that image were the flecks of hot, black blood that flew through the air every time she moved her arm. 

“Alec!” Izzy screamed suddenly.  Alec started at his sister’s cry, but it was too late.  The next thing he felt was a blinding pain in his back as something large and very, very sharp rammed into him.  The pain was so acute that he almost blacked out at the impact, but he managed to fumble with _Halaliel_ and drive it backwards, straight into the heart of the demon that had blindsided him.  It faded away with a loud cry and Alex fell to his knees.  Without the demon literally pinning him up with its claws he no longer had the strength to stand.  Izzy had managed to dispatch the last of the hoard and she knelt on the floor next to him.  “It’s going to be okay” he hears her say as she runs her stele over his skin, carving _iratzes_ into his flesh. “You’re going to be okay.”  He tries to reassure her, to tell her not to worry, but the world is already going black and fading swiftly from his sight and before he can get the words out he slumps all the way to the ground in a dead faint.

When he comes to the first thing he sees is Magnus’ concerned face hovering over him. 

“Oh good, you’re awake” he sighs and Alec tries to say something reassuring but all that comes out is a slightly garbled moan.  At that Izzy’s face also appears in his line of sight, eyes wide and worried.

“Don’t try to speak yet, big brother.  That demon really did a number on you,” she says.   Alec would love to tell her not to be so dramatic, but if he’s being honest he’s not sure he is ready to talk, so he settles for rolling his eyes at her and wheezes out “I’m fi-” before breaking into coughs.

“Wow, you really are fine.  Don’t know how I missed it.”  Izzy shakes her head at him, looking a little less concerned.  She stands and smiles at Magnus.  “I’ll leave you in charge of the patient?” 

“It would be my pleasure, my dear” Magnus grins.  “I make an excellent nurse.”  He turns his head and winks at Alec.  “I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve been told I give absolutely wonderful sponge baths.”  Izzy laughs rings delightedly through the infirmary while Alec does his best not to blush.   When she’s gone, Magnus reaches out to run his hand through Alec’s hair.   “You had me really worried, Alexander,” he says.  His eyes are serious as he looks at Alec.  “I know I joke say I like the rugged Shadowhunter look, but I was thinking more along the lines of ripped clothing rather than ripped skin.” 

“I’m sorry,” rasps Alec.  “I didn’t mean to worry you.” 

“I know.”  Magnus nudges Alec gently and he wiggles slightly until there’s just enough room on the bed for Magnus to squeeze onto it next to him, curling around him in a cat like manner.  “I’m just glad I got there in time.  Izzy called me just after the attack and I managed a nice bit of magic to heal that hole in your lung.” The look Magnus gives him tells Alec exactly how Magnus feels about holes in Alec’s lungs.  “You were actually very lucky.   The Molox demon hit your bag before it got you which stopped its claws going any deeper.  Although it did ruin your stuff, they’re such messy creatures.”

“My… bag?”  Alec repeats slightly dumbfounded.

“Yes, your bag.  It’s here.”  Magnus makes a vague gesture with his hand and the small rucksack Alec had been carrying appears on the bed.  It’s shredded, and covered in black ichor and looks just as bad as Alec feels.  Alec makes a feeble reaching motion for it and Magnus smiles at him fondly and passes it over.  When Alec looks inside it’s just as bad as he fears.  The left over ribbons and glitter are utterly coated in slime and the scrapbook which Alec had worked so hard to make is punctured with a two inch wide hole all the way through.  He gets it out anyway and flips it open.  Most of the pages are unrecognisable, the demon blood seems to be vaguely corrosive and it’s eaten away at the paper.  He does, however, manage to find one page right in the middle that’s mostly unharmed.  Their happy faces grin up at him, surrounded by a cheerful border of golden glitter. 

“What’s that?”  Asks Magnus, snuggling closer to Alec so he can get a better look.  There’s no point in trying to hide it so he sighs and shuts his eyes for a brief moment.

“Are you pretending to fall asleep to get out of answering the question, Alexander?”  Asks Magnus amusedly and Alec cracks one eye open to glare at him.

“No!”  He exclaims, offended.  “I was punctured an hour ago I’ll have you know.  Punctured people like to rest their eyes to help them gather the energy to tell their boyfriends about the scrapbook they made for them.”

“You made me a scrapbook?” Repeats Magnus, and when Alec finally opens his eyes the rest of the way he sees Magnus gazing at him with a look that makes his heart pound so hard it almost distracts him from the pain in his chest. 

“Well, it’s more of a scrappage now” he jokes, gesturing to the slightly crumpled photo of the two of them that had survived the hole and the blood. 

“I love it!”  Magnus declares, wiggling his fingers over the photo and sending blue sparks rolling through the paper.  “I’m going to put it next to the television so everyone can see it. And that is one of my favourite shades of glitter Alexander.  However did you know?”

Alec looks at his boyfriend, whose eyes and hair are coated with the very same shade of golden glitter he had picked up at the craft store.  “Lucky, I guess.” He smirks.  Magnus leans over to kiss him gently on the lips, careful not to put too much pressure on Alec’s chest.  When they break apart they’re both panting slightly.

“In that case,” grins Magnus, his eyes bright.  “When you’re better maybe you’ll get lucky again.”

Alec can’t think of anything to say to that, so he simply leans in to kiss Magnus again. 

And again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, ho. Almost the very end. Just the epilogue to go! 
> 
> For those of you interested, this was originally going to be much earlier in the story but then I decided it would go much better at the end.
> 
> ...and still one more step to go ;) ;) ;)


	7. Chapter 7

There are several things about Alec that never cease to amaze Magnus.  If asked, he’d normally cite Alec’s beautiful eyes, his body, or the fact that he’d grown up in the extraordinarily racist and closeted Shadowhunters society and managed to remain relatively normal.  

However, the thing at the moment that’s causing Magnus so much amazement is that his wonderful Alexander manages to survive being friends with a moron like Jace. 

“So I did just as you suggested and left the magazine lying around somewhere obvious and he took the bait!  We went to Vezzo’s for dinner last week and he tried to make me a mix tape and it was really sweet… I’m not entirely sure he really understood how it worked. It was just twelve loops of Sexy Back, but it’s the thought that counts.”

“That’s great, biscuit”, Magnus enthuses into the phone.   “I told you, men are so predictable.  I used the same trick on John Wilkes Booth back when we were hooking up and it worked like a charm.”

“You left a Cosmo article lying around for John Wiles Booth to see so he’d take you on some nice dates?”  Clary’s scepticism is clear even through the phone so Magnus sighs dramatically and admits that maybe it hadn’t happened quite like that, but that the principle remained the same.  It makes Clary laugh and they chat for a few more minutes until Clary has to go to meet Jace and Magnus is arrives back at his apartment.

 It’d been a long day. First he’d summoned a nasty little demon which a local cult had insisted they needed to talk to as a matter of urgency.  Then he’d been forced to go to the Harbour to assist in a complicated bit of magic for a Kelpie wedding ceremony (oh, the things he did for love!) and he was going to have to return the next day as well to finish working the fertility spells into the ceremonial sea glass. All in all, he was exhausted, and looking forward to sitting down and enjoying some takeout with his cat and a nice glass of wine before Alec comes over later.

All that changes when he walks into his apartment to see Alec already lounging in the kitchen.  The mere sight of him fills Magnus with a second wave of energy he wouldn’t have thought possible without food and he finds himself sweeping over to his boyfriend to place a gentle kiss on his mouth.  He starts to chat about his day but Alec seems distracted, nervous even, and when Magnus follows his gaze and sees the wine splattered across his carpet like a scene from a murder he understands why. 

It’s easy enough to get rid of the stain, but as he does so he notices his carpet already seems much cleaner than usual, wine excepting.  He casts a quick glance around the rest of the apartment and confirms that, yes, it’s not only cleaner than usual but tidier as well.  As Alec explains that he’s been trying to do something nice for Magnus he feels a strong swell of emotion in his chest and amends his earlier list of things he finds amazing about Alec from ‘managed to remain relatively normal’ to ‘became the most perfect, thoughtful man on the planet.’

His cat, it seems is less than perfect and knocks over an absolutely foul smelling bottle of liquid that Magnus can’t vanish with his magic, but Alec continues on his crusade of perfection and offers to take him out to dinner instead.  It sounds wonderful, but as they leave the apartment Magnus can’t help but feel like he’s missing something…

 

 ***

 

That feeling goes away when they settle down at their usual table at Estelle’s food in front of them.  It feels so normal, the two of them sitting there together, and Magnus sighs happily as he takes a large bite of his sandwich and revels in that feeling of normality which he hasn’t felt in such a long time.  Then Alec places a stumpy candle between them which he blushingly encourages Magnus to light and he’s left breathless, wondering how he could ever have thought to describe an evening with Alexander as simply normal. 

That night leaves him feeling more hopelessly in love with Alexander, even greedier for his presence in his life, after an elderly lady named Enid buys them each a slice of pie in memory of her own lost love. Magnus, of course, is well acquainted with the pain Enid’s currently experiencing.  Four hundred years is a long time, and there have been many friends and lovers in his life that didn’t share his immortality, but he’d almost managed to forget that thanks to Alec, whose unrelenting vitality is enough to make Magnus forget about the impossible future laid out before them and simply be content to subsist in the now.

 

***

 

When he wakes up his bed is disappointingly void of Alexander, although the pillow he’s crushing against his chest does still smell like him.  Magnus is used to this.  One of Alec’s worse habits is his inability to stay in bed much later than sunrise, and he had mentioned at dinner that he would need to return to the Institute at some unholy hour for training.  Magnus might be the one with demon blood, but it seemed to him that the Shadowhunters were the ones with the truly hellish schedules. 

He gets up, idly flicking his fingers at his closet to look for something to wear.  With his other hand he gestures vaguely at his draws to peruse his other options.  He’s momentarily distracted when he finds one of Alec’s sweaters folded neatly away next to his own far more fashionable collection.  For a moment he’s tempted to put it on so that he can carry Alec’s scent with him when he goes to deal with the matrimonial affairs of the mermaids later that day but ultimately his sentimentality is beaten out by his good taste and he elects on a fuchsia shirt that comes with a matching capelet trimmed with black lace. 

However, when he goes to his kitchen to forage for breakfast he finds his sentimentality can be matched only by Alec’s who has made him his very own packed lunch to take with him later that day.  Scrawled across the bag in Alec’s dreadful handwriting is a sweet message wishing him a good day and signed off with an “I love you” and some kisses.  Magnus beams when he finds it, sending sparks of magic dancing across the table counter in his joy.  It’s incredibly thoughtful of Alec to go to so much effort for him… and as he looks at the bag a little longer he realises, incredibly reminiscent of something he’d been talking about recently.

He gets out his phone and sends a quick text to Clary.

**Hey!  What were the steps on the cosmo list again? Xxx**

He gets a reply back from her almost instantaneously and he can’t help but grinning as he reads it.  His Alexander seems to have gotten his hands on the same Cosmo article he’d helped Clary trick Jace into taking and is following it through.  Shaking his head he can’t help but feel excited as he thinks ahead to the next two items on the list.  He almost feels bad that he’s partially responsible for the effort Alec’s putting into him in a roundabout way, but then he starts to think about the ways he can show his gratitude later, and the many positions, and the guilt swiftly fades away.

 

***

 

He’s just finished the mermaid job when Isabelle calls him.  He picks up, charming line on the tip of his tongue when she says two simple words.

“Alec’s hurt.”

“I’m on my way,” he says at once, because really, what else would he say?  He portals almost instantaneously to the Institute and swiftly tracks the Lightwood siblings down to the infirmary.  Alec is ghostly white, his runes standing out starkly against his skin and Magnus wastes no time in turning his magic towards the large wound that is the obvious source of Alec’s current situation.  He feels his magic trickling through Alec’s veins, swirling in eddying flows through his body as Alec’s own heart pumps the sparks deeper into his body.  There’s some sort of venom in the black ooze that Magnus quickly deals with, and although he has the situation under control in barely five minutes it costs him a great deal of energy and he has to sit.

“Thank you” says Izzy, who also looks remarkably pale despite her lack of injury.  “I didn’t know what to do.  The _Iratzes_ weren’t sticking and he was bleeding so much.”  She swiftly explains the situation to him while they sit there, watching the steady rise and fall of Alec’s chest.  “If it wasn’t for his stupid back he’d probably be dead.”  She finishes and they both look at the gunk covered rucksack on the floor next to them. 

“I never thought I’d be so glad for your brother’s poor taste in accessories” says Magnus with forced cheer.

“It might actually have been improved with all that blood” agrees Izzy, equally as forced. 

They sit there in tense silence until finally, Alec opens his eyes.  Magnus is there at once, standing at Alec’s side where he plans to remain until forcibly removed.   Soon, Izzy leaves, and it’s just the two of them left.  Alec makes room for Magnus at his side and Magnus makes breezy conversation to try and distract from the fact that Alec had just been impaled when Alec gets out the scrapbook he’d made for him and suddenly Magnus is the one feeling like he has a hole in his chest.  The book is almost completely ruined, apart from one section of a page which Magnus imbues with preservative magic so that the photo and Alec’s decorations won’t degrade any further, but that’s not what’s important.  As Magnus stares at the scrapbook, he can’t help but imagine the hole running through its middle running through Alexander instead.  It was an extremely thoughtful gift, but Magnus would treasure Alec’s life over it any day, and that’s why the surviving picture is so special.

 

***

 

“What’s this?”  Alec’s voice is curious, and perhaps a little suspicious as he gazes at the package Magnus has unceremoniously placed in his lap.

“What does it look like, darling” purrs Magnus.  “I got you a present.  Now open it before the excitement gets too much for me and I open it myself.”  Alec rolls his eyes at his words but does begin to open the tightly wrapped package.  He doesn’t rip it open like Magnus would have done, but instead picks away the tape along all the edges until he can take the paper off in one whole piece. 

“You got me, pyjamas?” asks Alec.  Despite his dubious tone he looks pleasantly surprised by the gift which is a tasteful black, silk set of nightwear. 

“You are going to need something to wear when we go to Paris this weekend,” Magnus states casually. “Your current set are terribly ratty.”

“We’re going to Paris this weekend?” Alec’s eyebrows are raised in an adorable expression of surprise and Magnus can’t help but grin.

“Well, number five on the list does say to take your partner on a romantic daytrip,” he says teasingly.  “But I can’t help but go big.  So weekend trip to the City of Love it is.”  This seems to throw Alec even more than the initial statement about their imminent trip to Europe. 

“List?” he says, doing his best to seem innocent, although he blushes pink at the word.  The act is so utterly unconvincing that Magnus has to hope Alec’s never faced with any sort of real interrogation.

“Oh, you know,” he casts a casual look at his nails, playing up the innocent act with much more conviction than Alec just had.  “Five ways to make your partner swoon.  The first four were already taken, so I had to go big for my gesture.”  The blush is still there on Alec’s cheeks but he looks much more relaxed. 

“Clary told you,” he grumbles.

“She did no such thing!” Magnus says.  “Biscuit’s cunning I’ll grant, but surely you didn’t think she came up with that plan all on her own?  That was a Bane original.”  Alec rolls his eyes at the dramatic statement.  Then he sits up, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

“So, did it work?” He asks.  Magnus is too distracted by the sudden change in his boyfriend’s expression to full process the question. 

“Did what work?” he asks, staring at Alec’s face which is suddenly much closer to his own than it was before. 

“Did you swoon?”  Alec says with a grin.  The question is slightly ridiculous as obviously Magnus swoons at each and everything Alec does so he returns the question with one of his own.

“That depends, has the idea of a weekend away with me got you swooning?” 

“We’ll see,” says Alec cheekily.  “I hear they eat snails over there.  Not very romantic.”  Magnus pretends to pout, but he knows he looks far too pleased for Alec to buy it.

“Charlemagne found the snails I provided for him very romantic” he sniffs.  “He called me his Petit Escargot.”

“No he didn’t,” laughs Alec.

“Fine, maybe he didn’t” Magnus admits.  “Still, it’s a catchy nickname don’t you think.  Maybe I should start calling you my Petit Escargot.” 

“Please don’t.” Alec looks patiently amused at Magnus’ antics and is grinning widely so it’s only natural that Magnus leans over to kiss him before he descends into outright mockery at Magnus’ ridiculousness.  Alec doesn’t mind this at all wrapping one arm around Magnus’ waist to pull him in closer, running his other through Magnus’ hair before finally settling it against the back of his neck.  Magnus thoroughly approves.

Needless to say, they both do a lot of swooning that night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's me done. Thanks to everyone who's been reading/commenting on each chapter. It means a lot.  
> and hey, this thing's almost as long as the dissertation I was complaining about during the earlier chapters. Bet you're glad it didn't take me a whole academic year to finish this one though :p


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